PREFACE.
“Thus we were told in words DivineThat there were truths men could not bearE’en from the lips of Christ to hear.These have now slowly been unfurled,But still to a reluctant world.“Prophets will yet arise to teachTruths which the school-men fail to reach,Which priestly doctrine still would hide,And worldly votaries deride,And statesmen fain would set aside.”
“Thus we were told in words DivineThat there were truths men could not bearE’en from the lips of Christ to hear.These have now slowly been unfurled,But still to a reluctant world.“Prophets will yet arise to teachTruths which the school-men fail to reach,Which priestly doctrine still would hide,And worldly votaries deride,And statesmen fain would set aside.”
“Thus we were told in words DivineThat there were truths men could not bearE’en from the lips of Christ to hear.These have now slowly been unfurled,But still to a reluctant world.
“Thus we were told in words Divine
That there were truths men could not bear
E’en from the lips of Christ to hear.
These have now slowly been unfurled,
But still to a reluctant world.
“Prophets will yet arise to teachTruths which the school-men fail to reach,Which priestly doctrine still would hide,And worldly votaries deride,And statesmen fain would set aside.”
“Prophets will yet arise to teach
Truths which the school-men fail to reach,
Which priestly doctrine still would hide,
And worldly votaries deride,
And statesmen fain would set aside.”
I make no apology for this preface. It may be unusual but then the book it deals with is unusual. There is but one object in “Gloriana.” It is to speak of evils which do exist, to study facts which it is a crime to neglect, to sketch an artificial position—the creation of laws false to Nature—unparalleled for injustice and hardship.
Many critics, like the rest of humanity, are apt to be unfair. They take up a book, and when they find that it does not accord with their sentiments, they attempt to wreck it by ridicule and petty, spiteful criticism. They forget to ask themselves, “Why is this book written?” They altogether omit to go to the root of the Author’s purpose; and the result is, that false testimony is often borne against principles which, though drastic, are pure, which, though sharp as the surgeon’s knife, are yet humane; for it is genuine sympathy with humanity that arouses them.
There is no romance worth reading, which has not the solid foundation of truth to support it; there is no excuse for the existence of romance, unless it fixes thought on that truth which underlies it. Gloriana may be a romance, a dream; but in the first instance, it is inextricably interwoven with truth, in the second instance, dreams the work of the brain are species of thought, and thought is an attribute of God. Therefore is it God’s creation.
There may be some, who reading “Gloriana,” will feel shocked, and be apt to misjudge the author. There are others who will understand, appreciate, and sympathise. There are yet others, who hating truth, will receive it with gibes and sneers; there are many, who delightingin the evil which it fain would banish, will resent it as an unpardonable attempt against their liberties. An onslaught on public opinion is very like leading a Forlorn Hope. The leader knows full well that death lies in the breach, yet that leader knows also, that great results may spring from the death which is therefore readily sought and faced. “Gloriana” pleads woman’s cause, pleads for her freedom, for the just acknowledgment of her rights. It pleads that her equal humanity with man shall be recognised, and therefore that her claim to share what he has arrogated to himself, shall be considered. “Gloriana,” pleads that in woman’s degradation man shall no longer be debased, that in her elevation he shall be upraised and ennobled. The reader of its pages will observe the Author’s conviction, everywhere expressed, that Nature ordains the close companionship not division of the sexes, and that it is opposition to Nature which produces jealousy, intrigue, and unhealthy rivalry.
“Gloriana” is written with no antagonism to man. Just the contrary. The Author’s best and truest friends, with few exceptions, have been and are men. But the Author will never recognise man’s glory and welfare in woman’s degradation.
“And hark! a voice with accents clearIs raised, which all are forced to hear.’Tis woman’s voice, for ages hushed,Pleading the cause of woman crushed;Pleading the cause of purity,Of freedom, honour, equity,Of all the lost and the forlorn,Of all for whom the Christ was born.”
“And hark! a voice with accents clearIs raised, which all are forced to hear.’Tis woman’s voice, for ages hushed,Pleading the cause of woman crushed;Pleading the cause of purity,Of freedom, honour, equity,Of all the lost and the forlorn,Of all for whom the Christ was born.”
“And hark! a voice with accents clearIs raised, which all are forced to hear.’Tis woman’s voice, for ages hushed,Pleading the cause of woman crushed;Pleading the cause of purity,Of freedom, honour, equity,Of all the lost and the forlorn,Of all for whom the Christ was born.”
“And hark! a voice with accents clear
Is raised, which all are forced to hear.
’Tis woman’s voice, for ages hushed,
Pleading the cause of woman crushed;
Pleading the cause of purity,
Of freedom, honour, equity,
Of all the lost and the forlorn,
Of all for whom the Christ was born.”
If, therefore, the following story should help men to be generous and just, should awaken the sluggards amongst women to a sense of their Position, and should thus lead to a rapid Revolution it will not have been written in vain.
The Author.